- NEW YORK (AFP) - The
dollar slumped to a fresh eight-month low against the euro, and flirted
near four-month lows against the Japanese yen as the currency markets continued
to fret over US economic growth.
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- At 2100 GMT, the euro was trading at 1.2613 dollars in
late New York trade, up sharply from 1.2585 late Wednesday.
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- In earlier European trading, the euro had soared as high
as 1.2652 dollars, on renewed concerns over US economic growth and soaring
oil prices.
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- The dollar also declined against the yen, trading at
107.46 late Thursday, down from 108.20 a day earlier.
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- The sell-off continued after a key US economic barometer
weakened for the fourth straight month in September as oil prices surged,
showing a worrying loss of momentum.
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- The Conference Board said Thursday its index of leading
economic indicators, forecasting activity in the coming months, dipped
0.1 point from the previous month to 115.6, in line with Wall Street expectations.
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- "A fourth consecutive decline in the leading economic
indicators is a clear signal that the economy is losing momentum heading
into 2005," Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein said.
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- Traders said concerns about the US current account and
budget deficits were also fueling dollar angst.
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- The week-long sell off of the dollar continued apace
despite US Treasury Secretary John Snow telling reporters on Wednesday
the US government supported a "strong dollar."
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- The dollar continues to trade around lows against the
euro last seen in February as record oil prices also add to the mounting
economic frets, New York oil prices closed out the day at 54.92 dollars
a barrel Thursday.
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- "It's clear that euro strength isn't coming from
any eurozone economic data but rather from a massive shift in market psychology
that has turned decidedly dollar bearish since Monday's (capital flows)
report," said Boris Schlossberg, a currency analyst with FX Capital
Markets.
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- A report by JP Morgan this week showed net foreign capital
flows into the United States fell to 59 billion dollars in August from
a revised 63.1 billion in July.
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- And some analysts are now predicting the dollar could
weaken further, and that the euro could even pierce 1.27 dollars in the
next month.
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- Traders said concern about the neck-and-neck US presidential
race had also done little to calm the market's nerves.
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- In late New York trade, the dollar stood at 1.2174 Swiss
francs from 1.2217 Thursday.
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- The pound stood at 1.8269 dollars after 1.8161.
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